In the film-within-a-film ‘Strike’ (from The Comic Strip Presents…), the UK miners’ strike of 1984 is given the Hollywood treatment, with Al Pacino (or, rather, a brilliant Peter Richardson playing Al Pacino) as Arthur Scargill, and Meryl Streep (played by an equally brilliant Jennifer Saunders) as his wife. Scargill is interpreted as brooding and sentimental, with dark undertones of violence, emphasised by his penchant for endlessly cleaning and loading his revolver. His wife is neurotic and icily distant, and prone

Listening to recent central bank speeches, one can't help but get a sense of summer cheer. Risks to the global economy, which had been skewed to the downside, now appear broadly balanced. The shift in the macroeconomic outlook has been so great that policy normalisation is on the horizon, not just in the US but elsewhere. That's a good thing, right? Judging from the reaction in equity markets, maybe not. If the punchbowl is taken away, what appears on the

June has been a busy month for politics in Europe. Fresh from his victory in May's presidential elections, Emmanuel Macron won a landslide majority in parliament for his La République En Marche! (REM - an interesting acronym for a political party: that's them in the spotlight, winning their election...). On this side of the Channel, Theresa May lost twelve seats, failing to secure a majority for her party. At the time of writing, the Conservative Party is scrambling to reach

In the great 1957 film "Twelve angry men" (from the play of the same name written by Reginald Rose), Henry Fonda stars as the lone hold-out in a jury of   twelve, unpersuaded by the evidence against the defendant in the murder case they are hearing. For the remainder of the film, he gradually cajoles and persuades the other eleven jurors to agree with him and acquit the defendant. The other jurors are keen to get back to their normal lives,

I'm only happy when it rains I'm only happy when it's complicated And though I know you can't appreciate it I'm only happy when it rains You know I love it when the news is bad And when it feels so good to feel so sad I'm only happy when it rains Garbage, Only Happy When It Rains Fathom's annual summer party is approaching. This is a function aimed at clients, friends and family. Our hope and expectation is that

Hurrying out of Old Street tube station yesterday morning I found myself face-to-face with Jeremy Corbyn - dressed as a Jedi Knight! Although it's perfectly plausible that the disruptive left-wing candidate might partake in a bit of mid-week fancy dress, greeting Londoners on their daily commute, it is in fact a vast mural. Unmissable in size, it is a timely reminder of the anti-establishment's growing popularity. So too is the hashtag #Grime4Corbyn. A reflection of the Labour candidate's diverse fan

Once the week's work is complete, Fathom staff, on occasion, are permitted to help themselves to a light ale from the company fridge. But what if they were to indulge in something stronger? Smoke a little cannabis perhaps? Such an idea is unlikely to pass muster with management, not least because the substance is banned in the UK! But in other parts of the world such behaviour would not be as far out as it sounds: several US states have